Acting unanimously at their regular monthly meeting, the Board of Directors of THS appointed Walt Boyes to serve the first year of the late Jerry Pournelle’s current term. Dr. Pournelle had been duly elected by the membership of the Society to a new three year term shortly before his untimely passing on September 8th. Under THS Bylaws, Boyes will serve the first year as a Board appointment, and may stand for member confirmation for the final two years at the regular election next August. Boyes was also a candidate in the recent election, and was named on 52.6% of the ballots returned by members in the “pick three” format.

THS President Keith Kato welcomed Mr. Boyes, saying “We’re very happy that Walt has agreed to serve under difficult circumstances. The Board is very impressed with his credentials and past experience, which includes service with other non-profit Boards, and his deep contacts with the science and science fiction communities –we look forward to working with him in the future.”

Boyes noted that he had the greatest respect for the late Dr. Pournelle, and would do his best to honor Pournelle’s memory with his own service to “Pay it Forward!” in the Heinlein tradition.

Jerry Pournelle served on the Board of Directors of THS from 2005-2017, at the request of the late Virginia “Ginny” Heinlein. THS will be remembering him further in the next issue of our newsletter.